1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for transmitting travel route information to a person located outside a motor vehicle and to a system for transmitting such information.
2. Description of Prior Art
Nowadays many vehicles are equipped with navigation systems. These navigation systems may either be permanently integrated in the vehicle or be made available as mobile devices that are carried in the vehicle and used when necessary. With the aid of the navigation systems it is generally possible to have travel routes calculated according to different criteria such as shortest distance or fastest route. Navigation devices therefore permit travel routes to be selected in a way that is optimized with respect to time and/or cost.
However, due to large traffic volume on routes, traffic jams are frequently formed with the result that deviations from the calculated predefined times can occur on travel routes.
Waiting in a traffic jam or driving in a high traffic volume with frequent changes of speed leads, in addition to increased physical stressing of the driver of the vehicle as a result of the raised level of attention required, to increased fuel consumption and to a higher risk of accidents, both of which are undesirable. It is therefore recommended to start journeys such that traffic jams are avoided.
For this purpose, in large areas traffic jam information is made available via different media such as radio, RDS, TMC, teletext, or the Internet. In particular, the information on the traffic situation, which is made available via radio services such as RDS or TMC, can, however, usually only be obtained by the vehicle driver once in the vehicle and the journey has started. However, acquiring information at this time means it is generally too late to avoid being caught in a traffic jam.
Furthermore, the traffic information played back via the specified media does not involve individualized traffic information items that only cover the routes used by the vehicle driver but information covering a large number of routes. The driver must search through the wealth of information for the relevant information and evaluate said information. This requires the vehicle driver to take in the corresponding information, for example by listening to a radio program, and moreover requires a high level of concentration for the driver to extract the traffic information that is relevant for his route. Moreover, there is a need for local knowledge to be able to be aware of alternative routes.